Pongola
Pongola is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- -27.40°, 31.13°
About Pongola
The Pongola River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through oPhongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River.
Its main tributaries are the Bivane River and the Mozana River in South Africa, as well as the Ngwavuma in Eswatini.
The name of the uPhongolo River is derived from the isiZulu word for a barrel, vat, trough, or cask, referring to the deep and sometimes long pools that are found in this river.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Pongola River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Pongola: Key Facts
| Drainage basin | 8,000 km² |
|---|---|
| Mouth | Maputo River |
| Tributaries | Bivane River, Ngwavuma River |
Facts from Wikidata Q2096856 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Pongola: Quick Answers
- Where is Pongola?
- Pongola is located in South Africa, at 27.4047° S, 31.1303° E.
- Are there dams on the Pongola?
- No dam on the Pongola is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.